Just months after finishing an expansion to UW-Whitewater baseball’s Miller Stadium–and while still in the process of an expansion to the Warhawk football team’s locker room–the UW-W athletic department has its eyes set on another expansion to the Warhawk athletic facilities.

“We’re continuously looking to get better at every turn,” Director of Athletics Todd Garzarelli said of the constant projects.

The plan was outlined by Milwaukee architecture and design firm Kahler Slater, and its major plans include a new event center with stadium seating for basketball and an 80-yard turf fieldhouse. Garzarelli feels both are necessary not only for the athletic department but also for the student body.

“With the addition of the indoor fieldhouse it’ll open up necessary space,” Garzarelli said. “We need more intramural rec-space for our student body, and we need more space for our varsity programs for practice.”

This need for the expansion, especially for the new fieldhouse, is most evident during the winter when track and field, baseball, softball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, club sports and more all share the main area of the fieldhouse for practices. An additional fieldhouse area would be used by all these teams for necessary indoor practices during the winter months.

“Right now, we need to find more athletic space and continue to enhance our facilities,” Garzarelli said.

The expansion is planned to build off the current David L. Kachel Fieldhouse, but the Athletic Department has not released the expected cost or timeframe for the project.

Garzarelli feels that expansion in the facilities will be a key recruiting tool in the future noting that a lot of the other schools in the WIAC including UW-Platteville and UW-Oshkosh both recently made renovations to their training facilities.

“We need to do our part from an athletic standpoint in continuing to build on a tradition of success, and part of that is making sure our facilities are at a first-placed level.” Garzarelli said.

Other additions detailed in the plans include offices for the basketball programs, an athletic training suite, an expansion of the weight room and other renovations throughout the Williams Center.